United Kingdom: Forthcoming Law to Exclude Foreign Nationals from National Health Service Coverage

Foreign nationals will soon be more likely to be charged for most medical treatment received in the United Kingdom, according to a forthcoming law that is yet to be published. Foreign nationals who have already paid the Immigration Health Surcharge will likely be exempt from the provisions of the new law, however this is subject to change. The bill will also likely introduce new residency rules that would restrict free medical services for European Economic Area visitors, who are currently exempt from the Immigration Health Surcharge.

Share

Copy the link

Foreign
nationals will soon be more likely to be charged for most medical treatment
received in the United Kingdom, according to a forthcoming law that is yet to
be published. Foreign nationals who have already paid the Immigration
Health Surcharge will likely be exempt from the provisions of the new law,
however this is subject to change. Foreign nationals who are exempt from the
Immigration Health Surcharge will likely continue to be exempt from these new
provisions. Those likely to be most impacted are short-term visitors to the
United Kingdom.

The bill
will also likely introduce new residency rules that would restrict free medical
services under the National Health Service for European Economic Area visitors,
who are currently exempt from the Immigration Health Surcharge.

Background

The bill is
meant to recover costs incurred from medical treatment for foreign nationals.

The bill
will likely contain an extensive list of exemptions such as treatment for
contagious illnesses or for victims of certain types of violence, among others.

What
This Means for Foreign Nationals

Affected
foreign nationals should be prepared to consider health care costs during their
trips to the United Kingdom once the bill is implemented.

Fragomen
will report on the scope and implementation details once the draft bill is
published.

This alert
is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact
the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen Worldwide or
send an email to londoninfo@fragomen.com.

Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP, Fragomen Global LLP and affiliates, (collectively known as “Fragomen Worldwide”) is the world’s largest firm dedicated to corporate immigration, and is recognized as the leading global immigration services provider.

Please sign in or register for FREE

Sign in to The Forum for Expatriate Management

Register to The Forum for Expatriate Management

The Forum for Expatriate Management is the premier worldwide community for Global Mobility professionals and is dedicated to enabling professionals across industries to unite and distil best practice while facilitating valuable networking opportunities for knowledge sharing.